Hero's Shadow Ranch
by Were-Ah
Summary: The Sages failed, time could not be reversed for Hyrule. Not even for the Hero of Time. Now feeling alone and depressed, Link goes off adventuring in the Hylian outskirts and there he finds an interesting little ranch with a surprising name. LinkxD.Link.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer**; Nintendo owns Legend of Zelda, I, thank goodness for all of you, do not._

"Link . . . We, the Sages, are going to send you back. To give you back your lost years,"

Those weren't her exact words.

He couldn't remember her exact words at this point. Or who 'she' was! The only words that he could hear were his own;_home. I'm going home. Home . . . Home. Home! _That was all that mattered. He was going home and soon.

Home and soon, two giant pillars of gold in his lonely spiritual poverty.

Home meant Saria and the other Kokiri. Home meant peaceful nights with no nightmares, no ambushes, no creepy ceiling hands, no darkness, a hot meal every night, a roof to sleep under every night, some bullying but whatever, and playing with 'his tribe' without a care in the world again. The list went on and on!

Soon meant well . .. _Soon. _That word made him turn into a giant puddle of Hero-scented goop.

The Hero of Time bent his head down; his unruly mop of blonde hair covered his expression from all who were in audience. A habit he had picked up from back when Mido and his gang bullied him. He would bend his head low and silently laugh at their idiocy. It had been good medicine.

Nevertheless, he wasn't laughing at the idiocy of the Sages, Zelda, himself, or anything. He was laughing so silently because Laughter _was_ Medicine. This Medicine was cleansing everything. The Light was washing away all of the fears. All of the nightmares that would have haunted him scattered in fright. Every emotional scar, misunderstandings, and understood adult feeling was fighting this Light. This cleansing Light called Laughter, though silent as it was, like Link, like the creator of this Light, it prevailed.

Zelda tentatively took a step back, she as Zelda, hadn't known Link for that long. Through the eyes of Sheik, she had witnessed his many, if childish, emotions. Had talked with him, but never had she had known this to happen; the great Hero of Time was_trembling_.

Zelda's sensitive ears, honed like that of a Sheikah, heard muffled --- sobs? Her first thought was consoling him, was he that deeply moved? She retracted her step, "Li--"

Link threw his head back and let his laughter fill the room. It had built up inside of his chest, this feeling and the amount of wind used, made his lungs cry out in agony. He didn't care.

It was a great booming laugh, almost hysterical, the sound brought to mind someone like Gannondorf or some other vile creature. Not Link! Not the Hero of Time, chosen by the Goddesses! The sound echoed off all of the walls, amplifying it. Louder, louder, and louder . . . As if a dark celestial being was trying to have audience with the Protectors.

Zelda leapt back in fright. Had the Great Hero gone mad?!

Five of the other Sages readied themselves, for they were thinking the same thing.

His body was shaking, muscles aching, and tears running down his face. His legs gave way and the Hero was sprawled over the floor like a fallen toddler. A rabid struggle for life-giving air replaced the dark Laughter. Link gulped in as much air as he could, filling his lungs with it. Then he would waste it all with a painful rasp.

Saria took off in a sprint to get him, her steps light and feverish, and a strange chime reverberating out of her Kokiri sized body. At first, those in the audience of Sages searched the hall for bells. They found none . . . Was this a sign from the Goddesses? A good or bad omen? None could say or even speculate, for all were to afraid . . . Expect Ruto, Princess of the Zora, the Water Sage.

"She's . . . laughing, the . . . Bells. . ." Ruto breathed, regretting the words as they left her lips. The little Sage shook with fear, would her thoughtless utterance bring them all to ruin!?

Saria's twinkling laughter sounded so out of place with Link's pitiful gasps. The little Kokiri girl reached out, taking

Link's head in her tiny hands, "Shhh . . ."

Link's breathing slowly went back to a normal rate, his large adult hand fisting into her little girl's tunic. "Sa-- Sari-ah?"

"Yes, Link?"

There was no dry eye in the hall.

There is nothing sweeter sounding then that of children's laughter.

The Sages promised and now they were delivering.

The Sages all stood in their Goddess-assigned places. Link stood off to the side, waiting for Zelda to call for him. Earlier, the Sages had proclaimed that the Hero of Time would be the first to return to the time of peace. He would be the first to smell the air without the scent of Gannondof's evil all around. Even with the Gerudo King trapped in the Sacred Realm, remnants of his evil remained across the land. It was still evident in _everything_. In the half of Castletown that stood in ruins and the makeshift tent-city on the other. In the way that the ReDeads still screeched at passersby, the influx in Stalchilds, Stalfos, Wolfos, Rare Poes, and the eyes of the people . . .

Link shuddered.

Zelda called him forward and directed him to stand in the middle of the temple. As he had done in the past when he awakened a Sage or talked to Rauru. Link gazed at the Seven Sages; he could feel their power just floating off them in waves. The Elemental powers entangling, starting the creation of another timeline. Another timeline, it seemed like he could reach out and touch it and _feel home_. Or be there. However, Link did not dare, if he had learned anything on his adventures, it had been not to mess with magical things. No good ever came from it.

Link stood transfixed as the Seven Sages powers twisted, writhed, knotting themselves around one another.

"Wow," he mouthed, the rainbow of colors that swirled all around the Temple was gorgeous. The hues mixing, blending, and changing all around him, no written music could produce this kind of harmony. Harmony that pushed all thoughts out the door and Link was pulled into a fantasy-world full of life, colors, and endless note-less music. No words could ever describe such peace as he felt, it was like nothing existed at all. Not even him.

Reality crashed down around him.

It only took a single turn of the head for him to realize what had happened.

"Link . . . I-I'm so sorry . . ."

End of Prologue.

Hello, from my little Wooden Box of Creativeness! So how was it? Any good at all? This is my first real fan fiction in a matter of two or three years. 0o Not that that should matter on my abilities to write. And I know it's a bit weird and kind of sad in a way, but . . . Hopefully it'll all make sense later? And it's so short! Bah!

Gannondorf; . . . Wait, wooden box? Isn't it normally a cardboard box?

I'm a step ahead of most fan fiction writers, but that's only because I found it first! hisses

Gannondorf; O-K . . .

Wait. Why are you here . . .? oo

Gannondorf; I'm your muse! BWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Shouldn't my muse be someone handsome? Or cute?

Gannondorf; . . . No.

Noooooes!

P.S If you're interested in Betaing this story, please send me a message. I would love your harsh criticism. Even if it's something small like a verb tense or something.


	2. Chapter 1

Rauru had only said that the Goddesses' Will had been done.

Ruto was strangely tight-lipped about it.

Saria and Daruina had cried for him.

Zelda wanted him to be the Captain of the Guard.

Impa wanted him to accept Zelda's offer.

He didn't.

'It doesn't matter,' he told himself repeatedly. 'This is the way it's gonna be. Nothings gonna change!' Maybe if he said it enough, he might start to believe it. Nothing was going to change the lifestyle he was living either. Not even Queen Zelda herself. This was his chosen life and there was no one who was going too stop--

"_Link!"_

"Oh," he muttered, "Sorry Epona," he eased her away from the cliff's edge. Link sighed; he shouldn't be thinking so deeply while riding in a desert. Or riding at all, it seemed. Last week Epona had yelled at him after traveling for six hours in the wrong direction. Only the day before she had bucked him off for being indecisive for an entire hour. She seemed to get haughtier with every slip-up.

Epona . . . For the past four months, he had been having imaginary conversations with her. Maybe it was the weather or the rations that weren't filling his stomach. He wasn't sure. It could have been from the loneliness that came with gallivanting all over the outskirts of Hyrule, or the need for companionship after Navi left. He could only rule out one source; anger. When the Sages had failed to send him back to being a child, anger had been the farthest thing from his mind. Sadness, 'what if' questions that left a bitter taste in his mouth, and a recurring stabbing pain that would leave him breathless.

Link had remained in Castletown for six months after that. He and everyone around him knew that he would get himself killed if he ventured out in that state. He had nothing to do but train a newly formed Castle guard and think.

He had come to several conclusions during that timeframe one;

_Nothing was going to bring back those days._

Nine out of ten noblemen were **greedy**backstabbing _bastards._

The citizens were foolish but likeable people.Even the ones who annoyed him with their questions.

Ruto and almost all of the Zoras were naked.

_There were Goron women; one just had to pay attention._

_**He wasn't a good teacher.**_

Zelda was an angel sent to him by the Three.

The last one brought a smile to his face. Zelda had taken him by the hand, literally, and healed him. The only thing that she had not been able to cure was the 'what-if' questions. However, she had lessened the sadness that would follow them. Link had no idea what it was that had done; it worked though.

On second thought, maybe he did have an idea. She had lead him through the ruined Hyrule Castle and told him stories she had heard as a child. Zelda would giggle, frown, and gasp in all of the right places when he told his own. When things were going to get boring she would send him out some easy meaningless errand, he was eternally grateful for that. It could have been the little things, how she would comb his hair for him when the sadness overwhelmed him. How she would whine childishly [when no one else was around. until he would play the Ocarina for her. The way her hair did whatever she wanted it too do. How she 'gently' forced him to a festival that a local noblewoman had sponsored for the Castletown children. She could blink and be regal Queen Zelda, then with a simple turn of the head she could just be Zelda again.

There were so many things that he knew he would never remember them all.

"_Link, if you don't start paying attention I'm going to buck you off again,"_

The Hero of Time snapped back from his internal flashback, "Sorry . . ." he eased up on the reins and glanced around, somehow Epona had let him walk them right into a small canyon of some sort! Over to his right was a large outcropping of shale, the imprints of long dead animals decorated the walls. It stretched over at an odd angle, providing shade from all positions of the sun. At some point, this canyon must have housed a great river or a great monster. Link shook his head, it was hard to imagine a place like this filled to the brim with water, so maybe the monster . . .

With ease that would have been right at home with a dancing troupe, he slipped out of the saddle. He really hated the desert, he hated the fact this was the only place where he could get away from everything. Hated the sand, the mirages, the extreme temperatures, and the grotesque beauty of it all. He also hated the fact that monsters didn't frequent these areas anymore. He hated whatever it was Gerudo were doing to keep them away from their territory.

"_I don't know what your thinking about, but at 'least wait till we're out of here alright?" _Epona stamped her foot and snorted angrily, "_And take off of my reins!"_

"Alright, alright!" The sun was making them both short-tempered. Link forced himself to be extra-gentle as he unclipped her harnesses. The Gerudo had been right; it was not a good idea to travel during the day in this heat.

Link, still forcing himself to be gentle, slowly began to peel off Epona's gear.

"_Be careful, I've been sweating,"_

"I know," he unhooked the saddle and tossed it onto the gravel. He chuckled; there was a sweat soaked impression of his rear.

"_Wow, I didn't know your butt was so big," _

"Hmmm?" he cocked an eyebrow at Epona.

"_Well, you are not a horse, I can make fun of your's!"_

He laughed, "Want me too wipe you down?" He unsnapped a buckle and rummaged through it.

"_Yes," _Epona bent her head low to the ground and snorted. "_Please,"_

When on an adventure, nothing is routine. Circumstances change, problems occur, and dealt with in the best way possible. Even if the problem is as simple as a splinter or as difficult as uninvited guests. Things are done so the individual's schedule came be kept to a certain degree. Link knew and followed this rule like some follow the wisdom of a Sage. He was secretly proud of his ability to be ready for any situation.

But there is a first time for everything.

'It has to be the water,'

Link forced himself off the gravel floor onto his knees. He started to crawl towards the waterhole that only was two or three feet in front of him. It seemed more like two or three miles. His stomach twisted and turned and his throat burned and stretched as he vomited. How long had he been like this? He couldn't tell since his stomach was empty from its ejections. Therefore, he couldn't rely on his stomach as he usually did. It was dark and he was freezing, so it might have been nighttime. He knew that something sticky was running down his skin and soaking into his tunic. Link grimaced; he must have gotten some bile on himself that last time.

His body trembled and goose bumps spread across his skin like the Plague. When had it gotten so cold? 'Water. Cold, I'm in the water,' if he was in the waterhole, then he couldn't give into his body's desire to lie were he fell. He would drown that way.

After that, it was just dry heaving and forcing himself to crawl away from the waterhole. An endless cycle that could have gone on for mere hours or even days for all he knew.

Link didn't know when it was that he had collapsed, but he was lying half-in and half-out of the little puddle. Now it all made since, he had a fever. He had not been in the waterhole at all.

The cool fresh taste of water was invading his mouth. It made his throat scream in agony at this torture, so close! If he could just get his throat its part in the swallowing process, he would feel so much better . . .

His vision was still covered in a black veil. His ears could still be used, even though everything was muffled by the weak pounding of blood.

He could hear the muffled clang of metal against rocks and sand.

He heard the crunches of gravel underneath worn leather boots. So there was a whole posse of them. Subconsiously he counted the sounds and the voices, muffled they might have, he was sure that were eight or nine of them. One of them of might have been a woman . . .

He heard the words that would forever be imprinted in his heart, "Poor guy, . . . --dead,"

'Dead . . . ? I'm not-- . . . No! No! I'm alive! See!? I'm breathing!'

"Yeah . . . --'per burial-- . . . boss--"

'Check my heart! It's beating!' _If he didn't do something, these people would bury him alive . . . _

"We could-- . . . the horse-- glad we followed-- . . ."

Link heard Epona whinny, she sounded injured and afraid. In his mind's eye he could see her foaming at the It sounded like the men were trying to rope her. Epona snorted in fury and a man yelped in pain. The group was yelling at each other now, 'get the ropes!' 'hold'er down boys!', 'she's a mad horse, bubby!!'.

People only did one thing to mad animals.

They killed them.

Link didn't know he had the kind of strength that he pushed himself up with. Every part of his body screamed in agony, even parts that he didn't know could scream. Before that strength could leave him he pushed himself to his feet. He heard Epona's familiar whinny of glee and her hoofed feet beating the rocks. He felt her wet nose press against his neck. The Hero of Time wrapped his arms around Epona's long sweaty and grimy neck. He didn't care, his strength was leaving him . . . the last thing he knew where a pair of powerful arms wrapping around his waist.

End of Chapter 1.

Umm . . . filler anyone?

So how was it? Wordy? Sucky? Yucky? Okay? Was the sickness part okay? Did it seem out of wack? Tell me! Please! And I apologize for how short and slow it is.

P.S Betaing is welcome! PLEASE. People with ideas are also welcome, I won't guarantee I'll use the ideas, but I'll defiantly appreciate them[Don't be afraid to e-mail me either! And it'll get the chapters done in a timelier manner.

To my reviewers and shadow readers; THANK YOU! I WAFFLES YOU PEOPLE.


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